5 Tips for Big Winter Brown Trout
These tips for big winter brown trout will help you locate, fool, and land trophy-class browns this winter.
1. In low, clear water, focus on deeper, slow pockets.
2. Small, delicate presentations can get the finickiest fish to make the move and eat.
When it comes to winter fishing, smaller is almost always better. Small natural patterns like midges, small pheasant tails, and even micro eggs should be in every winter angler box. This time of year, bug activity is at a minimum, and the bugs that are around are, you guessed it, small. Most of our winter trout flies range from size 18 down to size 24, but there are some instances where you may need to go smaller. With fish sitting in slow, deep pools, they have ample time to stare down your flies and tippet. Luckily, fishing these small patterns means lighter tippet, giving you an overall better presentation to these smart fish. The only downside is fighting a large brown on light tippet.
3. If the fishing is slow, they might just not want to eat at that time of day. Give it some time, come back to that fish, and eventually, they’ll eat.
Winter water temperatures not only control where the fish sit but also how actively they eat. If you aren’t getting a bite, chances are the water may be too cold. During winter, it may only take a few degrees to alter how fish are feeding. If they aren’t biting in the morning, try again in the afternoon. The sun hitting the water for a few more hours may be exactly what the fish need to wake up and start actively feeding.
4. Leech patterns and egg patterns are extremely effective from fall to winter for big Browns.
If you’re not one to fish microscopically small fly patterns, don’t worry. From fall and into winter, leech and egg patterns will consistently fool big browns, especially lake run fish. For the best success, fish these patterns under a standard indicator rig. Target the deep pools and pockets we mentioned earlier and watch keenly for even the slightest tick on your indicator. It may be a giant brown sluggishly slurping your fly down.
5. Try putting a bead/egg pattern a couple of inches in front of a streamer. This can really turn on a big, slow fish.
For more winter trout fishing tips check out these articles below:
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